BASIC CONCEPT Introduction to Electric Circuits

An electric circuit is an interconnection of electrical elements.

Electrical Safety Functions:
●​ “Danger—High Voltage” ●​ To transfer energy from one point to another.
Basic concepts:
●​ Charge
PHYSIOLOGICAL REACTION CURRENT
●​ Current
●​ Voltage
Barely perceptible 3-5 mA ●​ Power
●​ Circuit elements
Extreme pain 35-50 mA
●​ Energy
Muscle paralysis 50-70 mA
Charge – q(t)
Heart stoppage 500 mA ●​ Basic quantity in an electric circuit.
●​ Defined as an electrical property of materials.
International Systems of Units ○​ Exist as negative (electron) and positive (proton)
The following are expressions of the same distance in meters (m): charges.
●​ 600, 000, 000 mm ○​ Measured in Coulombs (C).
●​ 600, 000 m ○​ 1 electron = -1.602*10-19C.
●​ 600 km ●​ Positive and negative charges move in different directions.
○​ Creates electric current.
○​ Consider electric current as movement of positive
charge.
●​ Charge may be constant/varying.

Example:
1.​ How much charge is represented by 4,600 electrons?
Current – i(t) Alessandro Antonio Volta (1745-1827)
●​ Defined as the charge flow rate ●​ an Italian physicist, invented the electric battery-which provided
●​ Measured in Ampere (A) the first continuous flow of electricity and the capacitor.
●​ Current may be constant varying ●​ Born into a noble family in Como, Italy, Volta was performing
electrical experiments at age 18.
●​ His invention of the battery in 1796 revolutionized the use of
electricity. The publication of his work in 1800 marked the
Andre-Marie Ampere (1775-1836) beginning of electric circuit theory.
●​ a French mathematician and physicist, laid the foundation of ●​ Volta received many honors during his lifetime.
electrodynamics. ●​ The unit of voltage or potential difference, the volt, was named
●​ He defined the electric current and developed a way to in his honor.
measure it in the 1820s.
●​ Born in Lyons, France, Ampere at age 12 mastered Latin in a Power – p(t)
few weeks, as he was intensely interested in mathematics and ●​ Defined to be the time rate of doing work.
many of the best mathematical works were in Latin. ○​ Measured in watts (W).
●​ He was a brilliant scientist and a prolific writer. He formulated ●​ Power can be absorbed or supplied by circuit elements.
the laws of electromagnetics. ○​ Positive power element absorbs power.
●​ He invented the electromagnet and the ammeter. The unit of ○​ Negative power element supplies power.
electric current, the ampere, was named after him. ○​ ‘Sign’ is determined by voltage and current.
●​ An ideal circuit:
Voltage – v(t) ○​
●​ Defined to be the charge rate of doing work.
○​ Energy required to move a unit charge through an
element.
●​ Measured in volts (V). Energy
●​ Voltage may be constant/varying. ●​ Defined as the capacity to do work.
●​ 1 volt = 1 joule/coulomb = 1 newton meter/coulomb ●​ Measured in joules (J).
●​ Voltage,
●​
Example: Circuit Elements
1.​ An energy source forces a constant current of 2 A for 10 s to ●​ An element is the basic building block of a circuit.
flow through a lightbulb. If 2.3 kJ is given off in the form of light ●​ Electric circuit is interconnecting of the elements.
and heat energy, calculate the voltage drop across the bulb. ●​ Types of elements:
○​ Active elements: Capable of generating energy
(i.e. batteries, generators).
○​ Passive elements: Absorbs energy (i.e. resistors,
capacitors and inductors).
○​ Voltage and current: sources the most important
active elements.
Source
●​ Divided into:
○​ Independent source: Does not depend on other
elements to supply voltage or current.
○​ Dependent source: Reverse of independent.
●​ Constant voltage source:
○​ Voltage same for all elements.
●​ Constant current source:
○​ Current same throughout the circuits.
Example
1.​ Calculate the amount of charge represented by two million
protons.
 BASIC LAWS Ohm's Law
Introduction ●​ Relationship between current and voltage within a circuit
●​ Fundamental laws that govern electric circuits: element.
○​ Ohm's Law. ●​ The voltage across an element is directly proportional to the
○​ Kirchhoff's Law. current flowing through it
●​ These laws form the foundation upon which electric circuit ●​ ν α ί
analysis is built. ●​ Thus: v=iR and R=v/i
●​ Common techniques in circuit analysis and design: Where:
○​ Combining resistors in series and parallel. ○​ R is called a resistor.
○​ Voltage and current divisions. ○​ Has the ability to resist the flow of electric current.
○​ Wye to delta and delta to wye transformations. Measured in Ohms (Ω)
●​ These techniques are restricted to resistive circuits.

●​ Value of R: varies from 0 to infinity

●​ Extreme values = 0 & infinity.
Georg Simon Ohm (1787-1854) ●​ Only linear resistors obey Ohm's Law.
●​ a German physicist, in 1826 experimentally deter-mined the
most basic law relating voltage and current for a resistor.
●​ Ohm's work was initially denied by critics.
●​ His efforts resulted in his famous law. He was awarded the
Copley Medal in 1841 by the Royal Society of London.
●​ In 1849, he was given the Professor of Physics chair by the
University of Munich.
●​ To honor him, the unit of resistance was named the ohm.
 ●​ Conductance (G) 2.​
○​ Unit mho or Siemens (S). a.​ Calculate current (i) in figure below when the switch is in
○​ Reciprocal of resistance R position 1.
○​ G=1/R b.​ Find the current when the switch is in position 2.
○​ Has the ability to conduct electric current

●​ Power:
●​ P = iv= i (iR) = i²R watts
= (v/R) v = v²/R watts
●​ R and G are positive quantities, thus power is always
positive.
●​ R absorbs power from the circuit - Passive element.

Example
1.​ Determine voltage (v), conductance (G) and power (p) from the
figure below.
Nodes, Branches & Loops Example
●​ Elements of electric circuits can be interconnected in several 3.​ Determine how many branches and nodes for the following
way. circuit.
●​ Need to understand some basic concepts of network topology.

●​ Branch: Represents a single element (i.e. voltage, resistor &

etc)

●​ Node: The meeting point between two or more branches.

●​ Loop: Any closed path in a circuit.

Example:
4.​ Determine how many branches and nodes for the following
circuit
 Kirchhoff’s Law 6.​ Current in closed boundary

Gustav Robert Kirchhoff (1824-1887)

●​ a German physicist, stated two basic laws in 1847 concerning
the relationship between the currents and voltages in an
electrical network. Kirchhoff's laws, along with Ohm's law, form
the basis of circuit theory.
●​ His collaborative work in spectroscopy with German chemist
Robert Bunsen led to the discovery of cesium in 1860 and
rubidium in 1861. Kirchhoff was also credited with the Kirchhoff
law of radiation. Thus Kirchhoff is famous among engineers,
chemists, and physicists.

Kirchhoff's Current Law (KCL)

●​ The algebraic sum of current entering / leaving a node (or
closed boundary) is zero. 7.​ Use KCL to obtain currents 𝑖1 𝑖2 and 𝑖3 in the circuit.
●​ Current enters = +ve
●​ Current leaves = -ve
●​ - ∑ current entering = ∑ current leaving

Example
5.​ Given the following circuit, write the equation for currents
 Kirchhoff's Voltage Law (KVL) 9.​ Use KVL to obtain 𝑣1, and 𝑣2.
●​ Applied to a loop in a circuit.
●​ According to KVL: The algebraic sum of voltage (rises
and drops) in a loop is zero.

10.​Calculate power dissipated in 50 resistor.

8.​ Use KVL to obtain 𝑣1, 𝑣2, and 𝑣3.
Series Resistors & Voltage Division
●​ Series resistors - same current flowing through them. Parallel Resistors & Current Division
●​ Parallel resistors - Common voltage across it

●​ Voltage Division: ●​ Current Division:

○​ Previously: ○​ Previously:

○​ Thus:
○​ Thus:
Conductance (G)
●​ Series conductance: 12.​

●​ Parallel conductance:

Voltage & Current Division

11.​Calculate

​ 14.
​ Wye-Delta Transformations
15. ●​ Given the circuit, how to combine R1 through R6? Resistors are
neither in series nor parallel…

●​ Use Wye-Delta Transformations

19.

20.